Mat Rose has never tried to mind-read an animal, but human beings are another story. For Rose, creating the illusion of mind-reading is the whole point of mentalism.

On Monday morning, Rose demonstrated exactly what that meant to a small audience in front of Wareham Community Television.

In the sweltering heat nearing noon, Rose sat with Queen Banda, a host at the TV station, to preview his upcoming show at the Buzzards Play Production on Sept. 3.

Before the show began, he asked audience member David Bridge to draw something in a notebook. After an introduction and question-and-answer session, Rose proceeded to guess what Bridge drew.

"It's not a human... it's something organic. Like a tree," he guessed. Making out a sketch, Rose drew a tree with palm leaves and showed it to Bridge.

His guess was spot on: a reflection of the banana tree Bridge drew in his notebook.

"That was crazy. I'm very amazed at how he did that," said Bridge. "That was my first time [seeing a mentalist] and I am definitely going to the show."

Rose has trained for years in the practice, but has only performed professionally since 2013. He recently moved into the neighborhood behind Lindsey's Restaurant last September, having lived in Plymouth and New York in the past, and is working hard to "get the ball rolling" with shows.

He said his inspiration came from watching a show eight years ago.

"It was just something I've never seen before," said Rose. "It's something that I wanted to do, I just didn't think it was possible."

He said that a lot of different things led him to become a mentalist, but it's not a talent he was born with. He read books on mentalism, researched techniques, and spoke and connected with other mentalists.

"My love for it has changed. Initially I just wanted to prove to people that I could do it, but art is about sharing," he said. "Now it's about helping people out. It's not for myself, but for other people."

The key was "not giving up," and he hopes to pass this wisdom along to high school and college students one day.

"It's a time when you're so unsure," he said. "I want to help open up a new world to someone – to let them know that if you keep going for what you want, you're going to be fine."

Rose describes mentalism as "thinking man's magic," and said his shows are geared toward older audiences. But audience members Molly Carey and Cassidy Bridge, both 13-years-old, were amazed by what they saw.

"That was basically like a magician," said Bridge.

Carey corrected her: "It was better than a magician."

To keep every show fresh and new, Rose said he has become comfortable with nervousness and getting butterflies.

Rose tries to "slant the odds in [his] favor" and puts things in place to try to guarantee success, but he doesn't always get things right 100 percent of the time.

It's no problem, he said, because the audience is always with him.

"We all want to suspend our disbelief for a little bit," he said.

To see Rose in action at Buzzards Play Production, 3065 Cranberry Highway, on Sept. 3, tickets are available for $10 online here. Tickets at the door are $15. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at 9 p.m.